‘Circa 2003’, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film about a goon and his sidekick hit the theatres and became an overnight success. ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’, directed by Rajkumar Hirani became a cult by itself. Never before in Hindi cinema was a goon so loved by the masses. In fact, when three years later, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ released, audiences received their favourite goon with a lot of love, yet again. But none of this probably could’ve prepared Vidhu Vinod Chopra for the offer he recently received. The filmmaker and his production house were offered a whopping sum of 5 billion Indian rupees for the rights to the Munna Bhai franchise. An international production house wanted to buy the successful film title. A source informed, “The deal includes the rights to produce Munna Bhai films, Munna Bhai merchandise and also the rights to publish Munna Bhai comics in the future.” According to the source, the international corporation conducted a survey in the Indian film industry, where Munna Bhai emerged as the most recalled movie franchise. “In fact, the third part of the film is one of the most eagerly awaited films even though the script has not been finalised yet. Needless to say, the production house wanted to buy the rights to the franchise. However, Vidhu Vinod Chopra refused to part with it,” added the source.
